Cork cutting machine



Au 20. 1929. .1. ENGESTOFT vCORK CUTTING MACHINE Flled Sept. 1, 1927 Patented Aug. 20, 1929.

UNITED STATES J'RGEN ENGESTOFT, 0F ASSEN S, NEAR MARIAGER, DENMARK.

CORK-CUTTING MACHINE.

Application filed September 1, 1927, Serial No. 216,913, and in Denmark September 15, 1926.

This invention relates to cork cutting machines such as are used for the production of stoppers or the like from sheets or slabs of cork; and its object, stated briefly, is to overcome an important defect inherent in cutting machines of the character indicated which are now in more or less general use, viz: the tendency of the rotating knife or cutter to remove slices or chips of the cork of so great thickness as to prevent the shaping or smoothing of the stopper from being effected properly.

The machine which I have devised obtains the object desired by providing for a gradual approach of the rotating cutter toward the piece of cork to be shaped, so that it will trim down the cork to the required shape and smoothness by removing thin chips one after another therefrom. Other and further improvements involve the particuilar construction, combination and arrangement of parts, as fully described and specifically claimed hereinafter.

In the accompanying drawing, Figures 1 and 2 are, respectively, a side elevation and a plan view, both somewhat diagrammatic, of a machine embodying my invention; such machine being based on the structure disclosed in my rior Danish patent, No. 25,144, granted ctober 7, 1919, but having applied to it the improvements comprising the present invention.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, 1 indicates the driving pulley of the machine, adapted to be belted to a source of power (not shown), and 2 the main shaft whereto said pulley is fixed. Shaft 2 carries a worm3 which meshes with and drives a worm wheel 4 secured to a short shaft 5 journaled in the adjacent side frame of the machine and also carrying a semi-toothed gear 6. The latter coacts with a gear 7 fastened to the end of a horizontal shaft 8 that is disposed longitudinally of the machine and is journaled in the framework directly below shaft 5. Hence, the teeth of gear 6 will be in mesh with those of gear 7 during a half-revolution only of shaft 5, and shaft 8 will thus be driven only during this period of mesh.

The shaft 8 has mounted on it two heads 9 and 10, which can be moved toward and from each other to adjust the distance between them; and these heads carry pairs of serrated or toothed rods 11 and 16 designed to engage the strip or block 46 of cork from which the stopper is to be made. The said holders or rods are rotatably mounted in the respective heads, and the two carried by the head 9 are e uipped at their outer ends with rubber whee s 12 which are periodically engaged and rotated in alternation by an elongated fluted wheel 13, the latter itself being constantly driven from shaft 5 by rope pulleys l4 and 15.

The main shaft 2 carries an additional pulley 17 which is belted to drive at high speed a smaller pulley 18 fixed to a shaft 19 that is journaled in a bearing 21; and this bearing, in turn, is attached to a slide 22 arranged on the bed 23 at a point equidistant from both the heads 9 and 10. The shaft 19 carries a circular knife or cutter 20, and its bearing 21 is pivotally mounted at 50 in such a manner as to enable it to be turned or set to different angular positions, so that the cutter will shape the stopper in a more or less tapering manner. The slide 22 is gradually forced inward toward the work by means of an expansible spring 24 that encircles a rod 25 attached to the slide, and this rod has secured to it one end of a rope or other flexible element 26 that passes around guide pulleys 27 and is connected at its other end to a roller 28 mounted on a pin 29 eccentrically fixed to a gear 30 fast of cork until it reaches the limit of its inward movement when the shaping of the stopper will have been completed. The succeeding half-revolution effects the backward movement of the slide, due to the tightening of the cable.

The gear 30 meshes with and drives a smaller gear 31 carrying a pin or stud 32 to which a link 33 is articulated at one end, the other end of the link being similarly connected to the adjacent end'of a lever 34 that is fulcrumed intermediate its ends at 35 on a suitable post or bracket mounted on the bed 23. This lever 34 is provided at its other end with a pin or stud 45 that has a sliding engagement in a longitudinal slot 36 formed in a rocking arm or lever 38 which is pivoted at one end at 37 to another post or bracket on the bed. Arm 38 has a knife 39 fixed to it to cut off Sections or blocks 46 from a sheet or slab 47 of cork of sufficient size to form the individual stoppers when trimmed down by this rotary cutter 20; the aforesaid sheet or slab resting on a table 40 against a centering ledge 41.

The timing of the several parts is such that during the trimming or shaping of a. stopper the teeth of gear (3 are out of mesh with those of gear? and the shaft 8, in consequence, is stationary. The shaft 19 of the rotary cutter 20 and the shaft 5 that carries the belt pulley 14 are, however, constantly driven, the latter shaft producing the continuous rotation of the fluted gear 13 and, hence, of the rubber wheel 12 engaged therewith and the holder 11 connected to that wheel. it will be understood, of course, that only one cork section or block 46 is being shaped at a time, the other pair of holders being idle.

At the completion of the shaping operation, the toothed part of gear 6 engages the gear 7 and the rotation of shaft 8 thereupon commences. At the same time, the holder 16 engaged with the stopper is retracted and the latter then drops; but before that occurs, the stopper strikes against an arm 43 connected with a counter (not shown), thus turning the counter one step. To withdraw the holder 16, a suitable wedge or cam rail 42 is provided, and the headed outer endof the holder 16 is caused to travel along the same and is cammed backward thereby. Be-

fore the rotation of shaft 8 cease: and the head of holder 16 has left rail 42, but after the finished stopper has dropped and the parts reach a position in which the two holders that have just released the stopper are disposed" at opposite sides of the portion of the sheet or slab 47 of cork on the table 40 that is in contact with ledge 41, this portion is severed by the oscillating or swinging knife 39. The holder then disengages the cam rail and grips the severed piece of cork 46 between it and the companion holder 11, so that at this moment both pairs of holders are engaged with pieces of cork, because the rotation of the shaft 8 and its heads 9 and 10 that has carried the finished stopper away from the shaping knife or cutter to be released has also brought a fresh piece of 'cork carried by the other pair of holders into position to be shaped when the rotation of shaft 8 ceases and the trimming action commences.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a machine for making cork stoppers, the combination of a shaft provided with a work-supporting device, means for rotating said shaft at regular intervals followed by definite periods of rest, a rotary shaping knife, means for constantly rotating the same, a sliding carrier for said knife, a flexible element connected at one end to said carrier, a gear actuated by the shaft during its periods of motion and to which the other end of the flexible element is attached for retracting the carrier and knife in the course of said periods, and a spring acting upon the carrier to force it and the knife gradually toward the work during the periods when the shaft is at rest so as to slice off thin shavings one after another from the work. 7

2. A machine according to claim 1, in which the flexible element is attached at one end to a stem fixed to the carrier and encircled by the spring, and at the other end to a roller eccentrically mounted on the gear.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

JoRoE ENGESTOFT. 

